A Heated Battle

By 12:30, according to Arnold’s personal account, the battle was
getting quite
heated. The British ships, those that were able to due to the wind, closed in
and
“continued a very hot fire with round and grape shot.” [9]
Typically, round
shot skipped over the water and buried itself in the hull or cut away at the
oars, while grape shot flew threw the air in deadly squalls. When under
fire, the soldiers first heard the sound of the guns, and then “spongers,
loaders, rammers leaped upon their pieces, showered by spray and rocked by
close misses.” [10] The guns that produced these
blasts gave off a tremendous
amount of smoke and noise, causing the deafening blasts to quickly darken the
immediate area. The Congress itself was attacked by two of the British
schooners and a ship which was packing eighteen pound guns. During the
battle the Congress was hulled, or rammed, twelve times, and seven shots
which were below the water level, but the men would just patch up the holes
and keep fighting. By one o’ clock, the Philadelphia was careening over.
Capt. George Pausch, in command of the Hessian units of the British Navy
noted in a diary that she (the Philadelphia) “began to careen over to one
side, but in spite of this, continued her fire.” [11]
Shortly afterward the Philadelphia, commanded by Capt. Grant, had sunk to the
bottom of the lake. The
rebels, however, gave as good as they got. Capt. Pausch relates an incidence
in his diary that tells of a cannonball hit the powder magazine of Lt.
Dufais’ ship, almost killing all of his men. Pausch tells that a bateau,
commanded by Lt. Smith of Artillery, took on board nine men while Pausch
himself was took on the remainder forty-eight men, which caused his own ship
to be dangerously close to sinking. The casualties from Lt. Dufais’ ship
included a cannonier named Rossemer, who was shot; a sailor who lost his leg
from the same ball that killed Rossemer; a drummer named Pillant and the
ship’s pilot were also both killed in the blast. The battle thus continued
until about five o’ clock, when the Carleton and the other British ships
found that if they retreated to seven hundred yards, the gunboats having
spent their ammunition, they would be out of the range of the rebel’s grape
shot, which without the support of the main British fleet,
outclassed those of the British. According to James Hadden of the Royal
Artillery, “little more than 1/3 of the British fleet” was engaged on the
eleventh. [12]

Therefore the British regrouped out of range and lined the ships
across the lake in order to prevent the rebel fleet from escaping during the
night. After dark on the 11th, Indians set fire to the Royal Savage. Also
after dark, the weather took a change for the worse. This was fortunate for
the rebels, because the addition of the cover of a storm added to the cover
of night enabled Arnold, along with General Waterbury and Colonel
Wigglesworth (whom Arnold considered “judicious, honest men and good
soldiers,” nor would “do nothing without consulting [them]” to formulate a
plan. [13] This plan involved slipping the ships one after
another, through a
gap in the British blockade. Because Pringle had lined his fleet one mile
from the west shore to beyond Garden Island, he unwittingly left a large hole
for Arnold’s fleet. Trumbull led the escape during the night of the 11th by
hugging the western shore. The hooded lanterns used as signals on each rebel
ship were not noticed by the British. A testament to Arnold’s bravery is
that the Congress brought up the rear, which is the most dangerous position
because there wasn’t another ship “watching his back.” A 220 year old legend
of the battle tells that the British bombarded a rock early on the 12th
because it looked like a rebel ship in the early morning light. Today that
rock is still referred to as “Carleton’s Prize.” By the time the British
discovered the rebels’ escape, made repairs, and gave chase on the 13th,
twenty-four hours had slipped by due to either “Pringle’s inertia” or
“Carleton’s procrastination.” [14]